PESHAWAR, July 18: Lawyers on Wednesday completely boycotted courts and condemned the Islamabad suicide bombing, saying that the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice was its intended target.

A joint meeting of the Peshawar high court and district bar associations condemned suicide bombings, especially in the NWFP and tribal areas, and prayed for those killed in the incidents.

The meeting, chaired by the high court bar’s president Abdul Lateef Afridi, termed Tuesday’s bombing in Islamabad a government conspiracy against the Chief Justice.

The meeting was addressed by Lateef Afridi, Qazi Mohammad Anwer, Sattar Khan, Barrister Bachha, Ghulam Nabi, Essa Khan and Shoukat Khan.

Qazi Anwer, who is also one of the counsels of the Chief Justice, accused the government of carrying out the bombing and said it might have been carried out to eliminate the Chief Justice or to scare him.

He said that the bombing was not aimed at killing innocent people and it was only because of miscalculation of time that the Chief Justice was safe.

He said that the government might have thought that if the Chief Justice was eliminated, the issue of the reference against him would be resolved.

Mr Anwer stated that they had also sought the NWFP government’s permission for a visit of the Chief Justice to Malakand and Dera Ismail Khan, but the government had requested them to postpone the programme because of the bad law and order situation.

Lateef Afridi hoped that the Supreme Court’s decision would be in favour of the Chief Justice.

HARIPUR: The lawyers’ community of Haripur here on Wednesday announced a two-day mourning for those who died in the suicide attack in Islamabad on Tuesday.